Obama flip-flops — but in the right direction
By
Bill Press Read Spanish Version
Welcome
to the real world, where not all lobbyists are bad, not all earmarks
are bad, and not all flip-flops are bad — especially not when they
uphold the rule of law.
On
torture, President Obama faced two tough decisions. At first, he got
one right and one wrong. The first decision was whether or not to
release previously classified memos detailing the methods of torture
— from sleep deprivation to waterboarding to planting insects in
prison cells — authorized by the Bush administration. Obama
correctly chose to do so.
Obama
had already banned future use of such so-called "enhanced
interrogation techniques." He decided to make the memos public,
explained Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, for three reasons: a judge
was about to order their release anyway; many of the torture
techniques used had already been widely reported in the media; and,
quite simply, it was the right thing to do.
Obama
rejected the stale arguments of former CIA directors that publication
of the memos would embolden terrorists, thereby making America less
safe. In fact, the exact opposite is true. The fact that the United
States now acknowledges the interrogation methods used, admits they
were wrong and bans their future use, gives terrorists one less
argument they can use against us.
But
then President Obama dropped the ball. Having laid out the types of
torture, which many consider illegal, used under the previous
administration, he declined to authorize prosecution of those Bush
officials who either gave or carried out the orders. He did so,
argued Gibbs in a testy exchange with reporters that I attended,
because Obama believes this is a time for "reflection, not
retribution."
That
argument was simply not convincing. How could Obama detail crimes
committed by members of the previous administration, then turn around
and let off the hook those who committed the crimes? Prosecution is
not retribution. Prosecution is enforcing the law. The failure to
investigate and prosecute the architects and agents of torture is
nothing less than a cover-up of war crimes of the Bush
administration.
The
case for prosecution was further strengthened by three related
events. First, reports that some European countries, using a legal
principle known as "universal jurisdiction," have assumed
authority to investigate human rights violations anywhere in the
world. Indeed, Spanish prosecutors have weighted investigation of six
senior Bush officials for torture of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. How
embarrassing were Spain to act where we did not.
Second
was a report by the Senate Armed Services Committee that Pentagon
officials, right up to former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld,
approved the use of waterboarding and other forms of torture by
military personnel eight months before the Justice Department had
ruled them legally acceptable.
Third
was a New York Times report revealing the shockingly inadequate
research that went into the post-Sept. 11 decision to use torture. As
documented by the Times, former CIA Director George Tenet sold
waterboarding — to George Bush, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, John
Ashcroft, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld and leaders of Congress — on
the basis that the practice was routinely taught as part of U.S.
military training programs.
He
did not add that waterboarding was taught in the context of what to
expect from criminal regimes that did not respect the Geneva
Conventions; that the United States had convicted Japanese soldiers
for use of waterboarding during World War II; that the technique was
used by Chinese troops during the Korean War to coerce false
confessions from Americans; and that the military itself had
abandoned waterboarding because it proved ineffective. Indeed, under
Bush, the CIA waterboarded two al-Qaida suspects 266 times without
learning any new information.
At
which point, President Obama reversed course, supported an
investigation by Congress or an independent "Truth Commission"
and, based on their findings, let Attorney General Eric Holder decide
whether to prosecute and how high up in the Bush White House to go.
Holder
must now proceed to show the world that we take war crimes seriously.
Maybe those CIA agents who merely followed orders should be let off
the hook. But those who wrote the memos and those who gave the orders
— including Alberto Gonzales, Dick Cheney and George Bush — must be
held responsible.
Chalk
this one up as the first big learning experience of the Obama
administration. Yes, Obama did a big flip-flop. But it was in the
right direction!
Bill
Press is host of a nationally syndicated radio show and author of a
new book, "Train
Wreck: The End of the Conservative Revolution (and Not a Moment Too
Soon)." You
can hear "The Bill Press Show" at his Web site:
billpressshow.com. His email address is: bill@billpress.com.
(c)
2009 Tribune Media Services, Inc.
